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Long weekend madness at Bluffer’s Park Beach

Nostrat Panahi made the trek down the hill with his 2-year-old daughter Huliya, one month old baby, wife, and mother-in-law. (Laura Beeston/Toronto Star)

By Laura BeestonStaff Reporter

Mon., Aug. 1, 2016

It’s a long weekend tradition as common as cold beers and BBQ: but Bluffer’s Park Beach, in Scarborough was closed to through traffic Monday as the parking lots of the popular waterfront reached capacity, causing traffic jams and chaos.

Sergeant Evan Drake told the Star that closures of this nature “frequently happen on the weekend” and that three squad cars and up to six officers were deployed from the 41 Division around 1 p.m. until 4 p.m. to help circulate traffic.

“Once you get down there, there’s nowhere left to go,” Drake said. “It’s a holiday Monday, it’s a hot day and there’s only so much parking.”

Police officer Nick Czujko acted as the gatekeeper handling the traffic on Kingston Rd. and Brimley Rd. S. for the afternoon, responsible for verifying members of the sailing and yacht clubs that have reserved parking, as well as local residents.

He turned other traffic away to park elsewhere.

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A full parking lot at Bluffer's Park Beach is what caused a traffic jam and general chaos on Kingston Rd. this holiday Monday. Police were called to help circulate traffic as the neighbourhood was overwhelmed by hopeful beachgoers.

“This is the only point of access,” Czujko said, as he waved in a car with two Seadoos on its trailer. “There’s no emergency, but a call was made (earlier) by patrons of the park. There was a parking dispute, I believe.”

After hauling a ‘Road closed’ sign to the right-hand lane of Brimley Rd. S., Sharif Asaduzzaman looked at the line of cars bottlenecking southwest along Kingston Rd. and smiled.

“This happens every year at this time,” he said, shaking his head and adding that he’s usually a gardener for the city’s Parks, Forestry and Recreation division, but was called into work to help with the crowd control. “It’s a long weekend; they should really anticipate this (happening).”

A full parking lot caused chaos on holiday Monday as Bluffer's Park Beach was closed to traffic.

As a result of the road closure, determined beachgoers were forced to walk down on the shoulder of the road — although “shoulder” is a generous designation, as it doesn’t boast much in terms of width and turns sharply into a ditch on each side.

In single file or pairs, carrying inflatable beach toys, chairs, BBQs and coolers, the crowds nonetheless walked the 2.4 km down the hill, competing with cars to get to the lake.

Nostrat Panahi was making the trek with his 2-year-old daughter and one month old baby, his wife and mother-in-law. They each carried bags and Panahi was pushing other supplies in a cart on wheels.

“I really hope they don’t give me a ticket where I’ve parked,” he said, wiping sweat off his brow. “I’m already thinking about how we’re going to haul all this stuff back to the car.”

"We're here for the entertainment," said local residents Glen Oad (right), Jim Lanigan and James Tree. The three men said they often sit and watch the crowds go by on the weekend, "tanning and scanning" the beautiful women. (Laura Beeston)

Panahi also wondered aloud why the city doesn’t have a summer shuttle for the crowds already. Indeed, elderly beach patrons, pregnant women and young families appeared to struggle in the 32 degree heat along the path.

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